Harry Potter, Bahamut
by Lochar
Summary: Harry didn't know it was the Chamber of Secrets. Voldemort didn't know it was the Tri-Throne of Bahamut. Harry walked away with a throne, while Voldemort fled. Now what happens? Sequel to Summoner's Stone.
1. Prelude

A/N: Welcome, one and all. If you're here new, I suggest you turn around, go back to my profile page, and read Harry Potter and the Summoner's Stone first. This won't make a bit of sense without reading it first. (Review it too!)

For everyone else, welcome. Buckle up, it's gonna be a wild ride.

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><p>Deep within the dungeons of Hogwarts lay the quarters of the current Slytherin Head of House. Guarded by the statue of a particularly venomous snake, the Head of House quarters were spacious and well furnished.<p>

Under most circumstances, that is. The normally immaculate set of rooms were trashed, furniture strewn around and shattered as if a bomb had gone off. Several chairs had been reduced to kindling, a bookshelf had been tipped and broken in two. Some of the books that bad been on the shelf were torn to shreds, while others lay haphazardly around.

A fireplace crackled merrily as a small creature knelt nearby, black eyes reflecting the light of the fire. Had the creature been standing, it would have barely topped three feet, not much taller than a house elf. A wand, a third its height, rested underneath a strange, three fingered hand. On its back was an odd spiked shell that heaved as the creature trembled with expended rage.

Severus Snape had temporarily regained control of his own anger, having spent it not just magically, but physically as well. The body that that atrocious spawn had shoved him in was actually stronger than his own, though he would never admit to any advantages of it. Neither Albus nor Minerva had been able to reverse the Transfiguration. The little shite had refused to reverse it, saying he couldn't.

That sent a spike of fear through him for a moment, that two magically powerful adults couldn't undo what had happened. And they wouldn't force the stupid child to undo it either. The thought sent another surge of anger through him, and his wand creaked under his grip.

All the students had returned to the school today, and he couldn't even take his frustration out on them. He refused to teach looking like this! He would not be seen accepting what he had done to him.

"Merlin, Severus." An unfamiliar voice chuckled behind him. The imp jumped and spun, seeing a heavy-set man standing half in the darkness, barely lit by the flames of the fire. "What kind of animagus form is that?"

"Who... You!" Snape hissed out incredulously, his wand held forward. "How?"

The man lifted the sleeve of his tattered robes, showing off his upper arm. On it, Voldemort's Dark Mark was fully formed, black as if it had just been applied that day. Snape took a step back. "You? Then..." Snape broke down into quiet laughter.

"The Master bid me to send you a message. It's the only reason I came back here. Hiding from unseen eyes is hard, I'm leaving after this. The Dark Lord would like his Potions Master back, Severus. And he could fix your little issue there."

The man chuckled as Snape snarled at the dig. "Get out of here." Snape coldly said, he wand trained on the other Death Eater.

"I plan on it. But I can't say how long he will wait on you." With a crook toothed smile, the man stepped fully back into the shadows. But Snape watched and saw his body melt away, a small creature scurrying through the destruction.

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><p>Lucius Malfoy walked through the empty halls of Hogwarts, cane held lightly in hand and smirk lightly on his lips. While Draco may not have been the best at keeping him up to date with what was happening, Dumbledore did have to keep the Board of Governors up to date at least somewhat.<p>

Between the two sources, he had a feeling he knew why he was here. Something had happened with the diary to the point that the old fool couldn't hide it anymore, and he needed the Board to at least be in agreement with a fix. He'd enjoy wringing a few concessions from him, and then sitting back to watch the fun.

The old stone gargoyle moved aside as he came close, the spiraling staircase automatically starting its climb. Lucius frowned at that a bit, as never under any circumstance had Dumbledore set his guardian to automatically recognize someone. He marshaled his Occulmancy to regain his balance.

Walking the stairs himself, Lucius found the door to Dumbledore's office open and the man himself sitting at his desk. A very young Fawkes sat on his perch, and Lucius was secretly glad, as the bird's songs always caused him discomfort, the result of his following Dark magics.

The old wizard looked tired and weak, and Lucius couldn't help by wonder to himself if Dumbledore had actually fought against something. And if he could possibly beat him now. But he put the thought aside. Too many knew where he was, and if Dumbledore ended up dead, even he could not buy his way out of that mess.

So instead, he ignored it. "Why did you call me here, Albus, and not the entire Board? I assume that you need me to bring something before the other Governors?"

The wizened magician gave him the oddest look. "Over the holidays, there have been three deaths. Our Defense professor, and two students."

Inwardly, Lucius was pleased. The little bint must be succumbing faster than he thought she would. Outwardly, he put on a face of horror. "What? I can understand the Defense curse taking a professor, but two students as well? Have you contact their parents? There is going to be an inquiry over this, Albus!"

"I am in the middle of doing so, Lucius." Dumbledore sighed, and horrifying suspicion tried to creep up on Lucius. He ruthlessly crushed it. His boy would not have meddled with the blood traitor. "I regret to inform you that I do not have a body to give you, but your son Draco was a victim in the rebirth of Voldemort."

Lucius' knees gave out and he felt as if a dozen Stunners had hit at once. He didn't notice Dumbledore's wand move, conjuring a chair for him to fall back into. The floor would have been fine. "You lie."

The old man gave him a look of sorrow. "Something held your son back, however, and Hogwarts has claimed him as its own."

Both hope to see his son again and pain that the boy was forever bound as a ghost slammed into him. "What?" Lucius croaked out.

"Draco." Albus called out, and a moment later the ghost in question appeared, sliding out of the floor. He settled, his feet scuffing against the floor inaudibly. Lucius absently noted that he still wore his Hogwarts robes.

"Father." Was all the boy could say, his voice quiet and breaking.

Lucius stumbled back to his feet, before trying to wrap his arms around his son, only to phase right through him. "No, Draco... How?"

"She...she had one of your notebooks..." Draco stumbled through the words, his own voice caught up in tears. "I took it back from her..."

"No." Lucius whispered, his mind screaming at him. He'd done it. "No, no, no..." The death of his son could be traced directly to him. And the Dark Lord.

"Notebook? This is the first I've heard of a notebook." Albus' voice said.

Lucius looked up to see the weary Headmaster. Forcing himself to his feet once more, he motioned for his son to be quiet. It might be his fault, something he would pay for, for the rest of his life, but by Merlin and Morgana it would be his own private hell. "It doesn't matter now. Albus, release my son from Hogwarts. Release him to me."

"The wards that tie the ghosts to Hogwarts are vast and intricately woven into the matrix of all the wards on the school. To adjust them to allow your son out would require the investment of a good deal of time and effort. And your son has no need to be released, Lucius." Albus shook his head.

Lucius knew what the wizard was really saying. Lucius had expected to come in here and wring concessions out of him, and now he was going to have to give something up.

The Dark Mark which had returned in full strength to his arm burned him now, the magic he'd freely accepted to tie him to the Dark Lord reminding him of other oaths he had taken. Lucius was Dark, and proud of it. But before allegiance to a Lord, there was allegiance to family.

"The Dark Lord was reborn through my son's body." Lucius said, obliquely acknowledging the fact that he knew more than Dumbledore had said. The older wizard said nothing, just nodded, accepting the statement. "Therefore, all I have left of my son is his spirit. Give me that, Albus, and I will openly stand against the monster that stole my son from me."

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><p>Perenelle frowned at her husband, who had made to stand up from the chair she had brought him to. He grinned at her, and her frown lessened. "Do not try my patience too much, husband."<p>

Nicholas continued smiling at her. "But dear, I spent an entire two days in Hogwarts hospital beds, and now I've spent a day in a bed here or this chair. I need to move."

"Then don't die on me!" She snapped back at him, standing imperiously over him for a moment, before sitting on the arm of the chair and wrapping her arms around him. She let a few tears spill out, the dam breaking for a moment. "Immortal is not invulnerable, husband. You know there are more than a few phoenixes carrying the soul of their summoner, because they have no body to return to."

She felt his arms go around her. "I'm sorry, my princess." His voice was muffled into her hair.

A soft crooning song filled the room as Iris began to sing. The two immortal magic users were quiet for a long while, just being soothed by the phoenixsong.

"I don't mind if you move around." Perenelle said finally. "Promise me though, Nicholas, that you will not be so impulsive and rash."

Nicholas pulled his head back, looking into the eyes of his wife. She so very rarely called him by name, only when she was extremely worried over him. "I'll act with all the care I can. I don't want to lose you."

"You wouldn't, you know." She replied. "I would follow you as Iris."

Nicholas had nothing to say to that, and just kissed his wife softly, before pulling her back into his arms. After a moment, he smiled against the nape of her neck. "Albus was asking me to pick up their Defense class, since the curse has already claimed a victim for the year."

Sharp nails pinched into his skin in response.

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><p>AN: And the stage is set. Chapter 1 is already part way written, and I hope to have it out within the next week. Let me know how this one was. Yes, I know short. It's a prelude, dammit. *grin*


	2. Getting the snowball rolling

A/N: So, my beta and I have a bet. I'm not going to say what the details of the bet are, just that the winner of it will be based on the comments of the first week of reviewers of this chapter. So, read, review, and I'll let you know who won in the next chapter.

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><p>Harry Potter sat in the Headmaster's office, his eyes moving around to the different objects that were always in motion. For a moment, his eyes rested on the empty perch of Fawkes, the Headmaster's phoenix familiar and the summoned Esper of Nicholas Flamel.<p>

It had been nearly a month since Harry had descended into the bowels of Hogwarts to repay the debt he owed to the Aspect of Life. Nearly a month since Harry had almost died multiple times, coming out alive but changed. He had gone down there as a second year student, summoner of Shiva. Together, the two of them had defeated the possessed Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, who had died because of the battle. Harry had then descended to what was Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets.

The biggest secret of that chamber had been it was truly the Tri-Throne of Bahamut, King and Aspect of Dragons. Harry had claimed the Tri-Throne is a desperate bid to save his own life, and nearly lost it in doing so. But he had lived and killed the basilisk that had once guarded the throne before being subverted to the will of mortals.

And he was still unsure if that fulfilled the debt he owed to Phoenix, because he couldn't speak with Fawkes to find out, as the firebird was never in the Headmaster's office when he was. And Mr. Flamel had taken the materia for Phoenix home with him when his wife absconded with him from the Hospital Wing.

It was quite unfair.

A nudge into his shoulder by Shiva pulled his attention forward, to the Headmaster sitting as his desk. Even this long after having called Phoenix to resurrect Mr. Flamel, he still looked a bit haggard.

"Were Madam Pomfrey's results any different today, Mr. Potter?" The Headmaster asked, but his attention was split between Harry and Shiva.

That was another change. Since taking the Tri-Throne, Shiva had not dispelled her physical Esper body very often, and when she did, she was quick to ask him to resummon her once more. Harry didn't see the harm in it, as the magic he expended returned to him eventually, unlike if he had summoned an Esper for Phoenix.

"No sir. She said that nothing's different." Harry shrugged. "Beyond the fact that I'm growing up quicker, I don't think it's a problem."

Dumbledore shook his head. "Your magic has significantly changed, Mr. Potter. Though your body appears to have tried, you are not an Animagus. You cannot spontaneously become one. You refuse to change Professor Snape back-"

"If I could, it'd be a different story, sir. I can't." Harry interrupted.

"You refuse to change Professor Snape back, Mr. Potter. Anything a wizard does, he can undo." The headmaster emphasized.

"Headmaster, I don't think there's a way you can get me to the point where I'll have control over the magic from the Tri-Throne, and wanting to fix him." Harry frowned. This was the third time he'd had this conversation with him, in three weeks.

"All the more reason to fix whatever you did to yourself, Mr. Potter. When we undo whatever this is, I am hopeful it will reverse your ill-advised transformation of Professor Snape."

"Undo it?" Harry growled, draconic instincts rousing at Dumbledore's new statement. A calm hand was placed on his shoulder.

"This is the first time you have actually mentioned this, Headmaster." Shiva's voice was cool. "Not considering that you have not the power to do so, what makes you think it is necessary?"

Albus met her gaze evenly. "Every student, every _child_, should grow up on their own time, madam. They should not be forced to be an adult before they have to be."

"Excuse me? Voldemort tried to kill me, remember? Twice." Harry could almost feel his hackles rising, but clamped down. Nothing was going to take the Tri-Throne from him, he kept repeating mentally. "I was forced to kill Professor Lockhart. Yes, I'm twelve. But a child? That stopped last year, Headmaster."

Dumbledore watched calmly as Harry flexed his fingers into the arms of the chair, gripping it heavily. "Perhaps you have a point there. But even more than that, you have changed. Of your own admittance, even." He held a hand up to forestall Harry's comment to that as well. "As I now know, Harry, fifty years ago the Chamber of Secrets was discovered by another student. He descended into the Chamber, and eventually became Voldemort."

Harry frowned.

"Whatever power he took from there, it apparently has you as well. Regardless of what you call it, I will not let another student lose themselves to the Dark, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore's voice was raised now, a hint of power and anger behind it. "Not even if I have to go down there, and bring the entire Chamber down."

Harry jumped to his feet, the nearly direct threat against the Tri-Throne enraging his other half. His hand was half raised before he felt like his entire body was dumped in ice, as Shiva engulfed him in a thin sheet of ice magic. The sensation was enough to jar him out of the rage, at least momentarily.

"You are laboring under some delusion, Headmaster, that whatever power Voldemort has, might have come from there. You do not believe either of us, when I say Harry is the King of Dragons, do you?" Shiva's voice had dropped several dozen degrees, along with the temperature of the room.

"No." Dumbledore's voice was tight, and a feel of magic pushed back against the cold. Power negating the energy Shiva was using.

"Perhaps we are going at this wrong. Do you know what I am? I am almost certain you have tried to look into it yourself." Shiva asked, letting up on her own magic.

At the apparent change of subject, Albus had a puzzled look. "Yes, I did. Given your name and powers, I would assume you are an extremely powerful yuki-onna, captured and bound to that gem in Potter's Folly long before the Folly ended up what it is now. I would even suggest that you are the basis for the religious figure of Shiva, in India, given the Frozen Palace in the Himalayas that has claimed the lives of many explorers."

Shiva gave the Headmaster a nonplussed look, before giving a glance to Harry. "It might have been quicker to ask him." She mentioned, before returning her focus to Dumbledore. "Possibly close, and yet the truth is much different. I am Shiva, and as I said before I am the Empress of Ice and Snow. I do not know what a yuki-onna is, but that is not what I am. I am an Aspect of Nature, the Aspect of Ice and the frozen world."

Shiva held her hands up, palms facing each other. In the space between them, moisture in the air froze under her command, shaping into a globe. "I have seen maps of the world as it stands, and it is not how I recall." The globe shifted, ice rising in places to create mountains. The globe depicted an alien world with no recognizable landmasses. "It as if Titan and Leviathan had decided to rearrange the world without any plan!"

Dumbledore stared at the globe with interest. "And your proof that you are not just a yuki-onna that has gone mad with age and loneliness? You have shown no powers that I would not expect from a yuki-onna, should I be so lucky as to speak with one, albeit yours are quite a bit more powerful than have been recorded."

The icy globe shattered between her hands. "Excuse me?" Shiva looked over to the empty stand that Fawkes usually perched on. Harry watched as Shiva raged. "I know you are bound to that Phoenix Esper. You literally revived the other Summoner, Flamel, through Phoenix's power. Has the Esper of the Aspect of Life taught you nothing of what we are?"

"Fawkes has been remarkably evasive when it comes to how Nicholas acquired him originally, and seeing as how I assume you are yuki-onna, there was never reason to ask a being of fire about one of snow." The answer actually made a fair bit of sense to Harry, considering what he knew the Headmaster thought now.

"Since Phoenix is not here to ask, then I will give you your proof. And then you will leave Harry alone about the Tri-Throne, for he is now the Aspect of Dragons." Shiva turned to the window, and it was knocked open at her touch.

"I recall that you froze the Black Lake once already. Such is within a yuki-onna's power, on a smaller scale." Dumbledore reminded her.

Shiva shook her head. "That was magic designed for my personal offense. No, that is not what I am going to do."

Shiva stepped onto the window sill, the cold wind of the Hogwarts' January weather whipping in. The wind streamed through Shiva's many long braids, some few actually coming undone in the growing winds. She looked back at Harry for a long moment, before turning once more to the rapidly worsening weather, already gloomy skies turning black with billowing clouds. "I am but an Esper, a fragment of the power wielded at the Throne of Ice. May the magic I call not overwhelm the body I inhabit."

"Shiva..." Harry started, but didn't make more than two steps before he felt the materia in his armlet become drowned in magic.

The Aspect of Ice glowed with her own inner light as Harry could see her direct strands of magic around her, before they floated off of their own accord into the sky. Shiva continued to pull strands of magic through the materia that linked Esper and the Throne of Ice together, freezing temperatures billowing away from her as she crafted her spell.

"I am Shiva, Ice and Snow. The frozen lands are my domain and in my domain I stand. Land before me, sky above me, rejoice in the spirit of snow, this I command!"

For a moment, the whipping winds paused and the boiling clouds froze. A light snow began to fall.

"You froze moisture in the air, to cause a bit of snow? That-" Dumbledore began, but stopped as the light snow suddenly wasn't. In the tower that was the Headmaster's office, the outside view of the world disappeared in a whiteout.

Shiva stood there, body visibly straining as she maintained something. Harry, still feeling the magic pulsing through the materia, stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder and silently urged her strength in what she was doing.

After several long moments, the air outside the window cleared and Shiva fell backwards, Harry awkwardly catching her limp body.

Outside the window was a vast plain of snow. The walls of Hogwarts stood firm against them, and not a single snowflake was actually in the inner courtyard. The gates out were open, and even now you could see panicked students streaming in from the snow. Beyond the walls, the entire area looked to be missing, buried under at least forty feet of snow.

Harry looked up from the exhausted form of Shiva to the Headmaster, who stared out at the serene landscape with astonishment, before Harry saw worry creep across his face.

"Do...not worry. I left...paths in the snow..." Shiva whispered, and Harry had to repeat it for the Headmaster to hear.

"Are you happy now, Headmaster?" Harry demanded, anger still in his own voice, but overlaid was worry about the nigh enfeebled Shiva he still held.

The Headmaster reluctantly turned from the seeming winter apocalypse that had befallen the school. When he spoke, his voice held a note of somber realization. "It is not usually a happy thing to have the veil pulled from your eyes, Harry."

Harry nodded, before returning his attention to Shiva. "Dispel?"

Shiva shook her head weakly. "No, just rest."

Harry helped stabilize Shiva, nodding. "Are we done, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore nodded, then shook his head. "Unless you want to trek back through a school of likely panicking students, I would offer my sitting room." He motioned to a bookcase which slid aside, revealing a moderately sized room with a table and several chairs.

Harry thought it looked more like a conference room, but didn't argue. "Thank you."

With a subtle twitch of his wand, one of the chairs flowed into the shape of a bed, complete with a heavy comforter and thick pillows. "Rest as long as you need to." Dumbledore sighed, looking out the window once more. "I will have to deal with this."

Harry helped Shiva into the bed, pulling up a chair next to her. He didn't bother to watch as the Headmaster started down the stairs, conjuring silvery phoenixes that took off further ahead.

* * *

><p>An hour or so later, Harry was talking with the still resting, but finally sitting up, Shiva when a ball of flame appeared in the office. "Finally, I can finally pin down Fawkes." Harry grinned.<p>

When the fire receded though, it was not just Fawkes that had appeared. Both of the Flamels and Iris were there as well. Nicholas was looking around, curiously. "Albus?"

"He's not in right now." Harry called out to him. "I think he's still getting rid of the snow."

Both Flamel's looked out the office window and did a double take. "That's... a lot of snow." Nicholas commented with a low whistle. Perenelle just stared for a moment before shaking her head. She then looked into the sitting room and noticed Shiva still in the bed. "You've got a story behind this, don't you?"

Shiva shot a glare at Fawkes. "You have had since Harry showed up for school last year to explain what we are, Phoenix. Why have you not, forcing me to provide that proof?" She waved a hand weakly towards where the window was in the other room.

Fawkes trilled a contrite song, drawing a look of disbelief from Nicholas. "Don't pin this one on me, Fawkes. You knew what Shiva was before I even got involved. You could have corrected his notions well before I was hurt."

This time Fawkes' song was longer, and Harry found he could understand it. _"I did not think that Albus needed to know. Had the youngling not been so insane as to claim the tri-throne, there would never have been an issue."_

"Bull." Harry interjected. "Even before this happened, I knew I'd need someone's help to get to India, to Shiva's throne. No one is going to help a twelve year old get half way across the world without a very good reason. The Floo network doesn't cross water, and I don't have a way to get an International portkey."

"His debt to you is fulfilled as well, Phoenix." Shiva's voice would brook no opposition, even constrained to the bed as she was.

"_I have no claim of debt against the King of Dragons, and against your mortal soul all debts are removed."_ Fawkes sang once more. The phoenix hung his head for a moment. _"I had expected to help you, but the magic provided by Albus and the other were barely enough to resurrect my summoner. My fragment was left with little in the way of recourse, and no other fragment of mine is as attuned to this location as Fawkes. Even Iris would not have been able to get to you there."_

"And since you can't travel by flame, having Fawkes or Iris take you near the Frozen Palace won't work, will it." Nicholas added, looking thoughtful. "But that is an issue for another time, Harry. We came here to speak with Albus about his Defense class. I think I will go help him clear the snow you created, Shiva."

Shiva gave a weak laugh. "I did not have the power to create that much." She disagreed. "The rest of these lands will not have snow for a few weeks, I drew it all here."

"As a summoned fragment? You have more reign over your element than expected." Perenelle sounded faintly surprised. "I would like to discuss this with you, later, if that is acceptable?"

Shiva nodded. "I will be here. This school has become too dangerous to force Harry to expend half his magic if he needs me."

"Alright then. Perenelle, would you like to help unbury a castle?" Nicholas offered his arm to his wife.

She laid a hand against him. "It sounds fun, husband. Come Iris, this is no longer my first winter. No snowballs, I promise."

Two trilling laughs came from the phoenixes in the room, before the four took their leave of Harry and Shiva.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later Shiva was feeling well enough that the two left the Headmaster's tower as well. Still early in the afternoon, Harry would normally have gone outside the castle to enjoy the winter air, but a single look out one of the windows proved that wasn't a sound idea.<p>

The Headmaster, almost all of the teachers, both Flamels and their phoenixs, and a fair number of older students were still out there, vanishing the snow Shiva had called.

Harry watched them for a few minutes before a voice spoke up behind him. "Oh hello Harry, Shiva."

Harry turned and saw a smile on Shiva's face as she greeted Luna. "Hello Luna. How are you?"

The somewhat off girl gave the two of them a smile. "It's been bugging me for weeks, you know." She pointed a finger at Harry, then reconsidered and pointed two. "Ever since we all came back from the holidays, something's been different about you, something missing."

Harry gave Luna his full attention.

"Wings." She proclaimed, her voice happy she'd finally resolved the issue. "Where are your wings, Harry?" She frowned. "And why is that what you're missing? Daddy said growing up is confusing, but this takes the cake." She then gave a cute pout to Shiva. "He's not going to tell me, so will you? It has to do with the Headmaster boarding up that bathroom, doesn't it?"

Shiva gave Luna an interested look of her own. "More or less, yes. But how do you sense that something like that changed about someone?"

"Daddy says we're all children of the wounded world. Some of us just pay better attention is all." She then refocused on Harry. "When you decide to actually find your wings, can I see them?"

Harry nodded, bewildered.

"Goodie!" Luna pulled Harry into a hug, before letting go and hugging Shiva as well, before shaking a stern finger in her face. "Don't do that again. You throw things off balance." Luna then smiled once more, notebook appearing in hand. "So, where did we leave off last time?"

* * *

><p>Three days later Harry walked into Potions with a grin on his face. Standing at the other end of the room was Nicholas Flamel, acting Potions Professor.<p>

Rumor had sprung up since the two Flamels had appeared that Nicholas was going to take up the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, but Harry had thought better. He knew why Professor Snape wasn't showing up for classes, and Potions was a lot closer to Alchemy, he thought.

The room itself had been reconfigured as well. Gone were all the two seat desks for partner working. Instead, there were rows of long tables. Everyone sat down and faced Nicholas, who watched them with a slight smile on his face. Nicholas nodded to Shiva, who had leaned up against the wall near the door.

After everyone was seated, Nicholas began addressing the class. "Now, as you all are aware, Professor Snape has been indisposed and unable to teach classes. Your Headmaster and I are friends, and he managed to talk me into picking up the lessons for this class, until Professor Snape either gets better, or the end of the year, whichever comes first."

The Slytherins looked torn between glee over instruction from the master alchemist and dismay over losing Professor Snape's biases.

In light of that, the Ravenclaws managed to keep their cheers down to a muted level.

"Now, I have the syllabus for all the potions you have brewed for first year and this year. To test your knowledge of these potions, we're going to have a verbal quiz. Raise your hand when you know the answer to the question."

Harry winced. _Pop quiz on day one with Mr. Flamel? Fun._

"In the boil cure potion, what do you do with the snake fangs?" Everyone's hand went up. "Put your hand down if your answer is anything but crushed." No hands wavered. "Good. Now, keep your hand up if you know why it should be crushed, instead of say, shattered."

Harry kept his hand up, recalling from the Ravenclaw study guides the difference. Most of the rest of his fellow Ravenclaws knew as well, while only two of the Slytherin students did.

"Alright, Mr. Goldstein, why?"

"Shattered teeth keep more of their potential, but do not evenly spread their effect through a potion. For the size of fangs we use and the cauldron size, we have to grind them until they are little more than dust." Anthony answered concisely. Harry watched Hermione give her housemate a friendly glare over the answer.

"Good answer. Those of you who didn't know that, may want to write it down." Nicholas nodded to the other students.

After a few more questions in that manner, where it became obvious that everyone knew what potion required what ingredient, but only the Ravenclaws could answer as to why, Nicholas stopped his questions with a sigh. "Alright, last question. This is for the students that couldn't answer the alternate uses. Can any of you name four methods of using any one potions ingredient? I don't care what it is, just four methods of using it."

As the Ravenclaws had known most of the previous answers, they stayed silent. For a long moment, the Slytherins did as well, trying to wrack their minds for potions that used the same ingredients in different manners. Finally, a single student raised his hand.

Nicholas gave him a smile. "Yes, Mr. Zabini?"

"Snake fangs. Whole, shattered, crushed, and each of those methods with and without venom." Blaise's voice was uncertain.

"Very good. Do you know the differences between each of those?" Nicholas asked, receiving a headshake in return. "Hmm. Did Professor Snape ever go over alternate preparation methods with you all, and why you should or shouldn't use them?" Nicholas addressed the question to the class.

A sea of heads shaking no was his answer. Nicholas pointed to one of the Slytherins that hadn't had any answers, beyond how to make a potion. "Mr. Nott. Please walk me through a day in which the class made a potion."

Theodore nodded, thinking. "We'd all come in and sit down in pairs. Professor Snape would assign us a potion with instructions on the board," he motioned to the chalkboard that was sitting against the far wall, "and we'd make the potion. One of us would usually prepare ingredients as the potion required, the other would make the potion. Professor Snape would walk the floor, making sure our potions weren't going too bad. We'd turn it in at the end of class. Sometimes we'd have to demonstrate our potions on ourselves."

"Did the potion instructions have detailed instructions on how to prepare each ingredient?" Mr. Flamel prompted, his face emotionless.

"Uh, no sir. We'd look those up in our books."

"Did Professor Snape spend the prior class going over the particular methods of preparing ingredients that you would be using on the next potion?" A slight frown had appeared on the Alchemist's face.

A silent headshake from Theodore.

"I see. Well, it looks like we've got half a year of work ahead of us." A wave of his hand and the differing cauldrons and measures on the tables disappeared. In their place, a variety of whole ingredients with cutting knives, mortar and pedestals, and other implements for preparing them appeared. "We'll start back at that. Now, I believe that there are at least ten different ways to prepare anything for use. If I don't know them all, it just means they haven't been discovered yet. The basics..."

* * *

><p>With Potions over, Harry had to wonder at all the knowledge that Mr. Flamel had. That had been the most informative lesson ever, going above and beyond the knowledge that decades of Ravenclaws had put into their own study guide. And he had kept it at the point where the Slytherin's had been able to learn as well, not throwing them into deep water just to keep the Ravenclaws interested.<p>

Harry entered the Ravenclaw tower to find the fourth year students already there, and apparently beset by the others who hadn't had a class the past hour. Thinking for a moment, Harry recalled they'd been in Defense.

"So, do we have a new Defense professor or something?" Harry asked as he joined those listening in.

One of the fourth years froze, and shook his head. "Nope, nothing like that. Mrs. Flamel isn't a teacher, a Professor, or anything of the sort." He was speaking as if quoting her directly. "She is simply killing time by amusing herself at our expense, and if we happen to learn a bit about how to defend ourselves, good for us."

Harry grinned. "What's she doing to amuse herself, then?"

"Curses and counter-curses, today." The older boy grinned ruefully back. "She'd curse the desk, break the curse on it, then before we knew what was happening, everything around us had the same curse and we'd have to break it. I didn't realize something could be cursed to hit you with Jelly-Legs if you looked at it too closely."

"Awesome." Harry breathed, echoed by the few other students that had made it into the tower after him.


	3. The End of Childhood

A/N: So, my beta won the bet with a score of 4-0. What was the bet? Whether people would cheer Shiva for partially burying Hogwarts, or if any of you would complain about her being overpowered. I should have realized you people are happy to see powerful good guys. :P

Anyways, on with the story!

* * *

><p>Harry spent the next two months enjoying the fact that there was nothing trying to kill him, even though he knew that Voldemort was somewhere in Draco's body. For the time being though, he wasn't at Hogwarts and Harry could at least somewhat relax.<p>

And so he'd dove into the research of how to get to India, and more specifically the Himalayas. As it turned out, International Portkey creation was very magically exhausting, and actually required the person creating the portkey to have been to the destination at least once before. Harry knew his vault had a large amount of gold in it, and wouldn't care about spending it, but finding someone to create the portkey was an issue.

He approached Padma about how her and Parvati went back home for the summer only to find that their father was a diplomat, and they actually had to take several portkeys between different embassies until they got home.

Which shot out bumming a ride on their portkey.

He even did what little research he could on muggle means of travel, but no airline or ship would take an underage person, and Harry refused to even consider asking his Aunt or Uncle, if they even thought about taking him back this summer. They'd be more likely to take his gold and run with it.

Apparition was out as well. Forgoing the fact that he didn't know how, the power requirements for that were three to four times the amount required for a portkey to the same destination, with the same limitations. He'd have to have been there before to know where he was going.

By late March, Harry was getting very frustrated at his own research about traveling methods. He didn't want to ask a favor of the Flamels, but it was quickly becoming apparent that he'd exhausted everything he could do by himself at the moment.

* * *

><p>It was just a few days before April when Professor McGonagall stopped him before he could enter the Great Hall for breakfast.<p>

"Mr. Potter, your presence is required in the Headmaster's office." The Transfiguration professor's brow was crinkled slightly in a distracted frown.

Harry cast his thoughts back to the past few weeks and couldn't recall anything he'd done that might get him into trouble. The worst thing he'd done was reverse a couple of those curse boxes that had been lying around. Someone had picked up Mrs. Flamel's trick of cursing objects with low powered hexes, and he'd managed to trip up one of the older red heads who'd been planting one. "May I ask what for?"

McGonagall's frown focused on Harry, before she managed to smooth her face. "Nothing you've done, Mr. Potter." She then looked at Shiva, who had been watching quietly. "I assume you will be going as well?" Shiva nodded, and Harry caught what could have been a quick upturn of the Deputy's lip in a split second smile.

The walk to the Headmaster's office was quick and quiet. Entering, Harry saw the Headmaster in discussion with two adults in dark robes. From behind, one appeared to be a guy with short brown hair and the other a lady with long, flowing black hair. Fawkes was actually on his perch for once, and Harry received a wing-wave in acknowledgement.

The Headmaster smiled at the quick interaction between Harry and Fawkes before speaking. "Ah, Harry. I do apologize for your missing breakfast, but these two insisted that you had to be seen as soon as possible."

The two stood and turned to look at Harry. "Mr. Potter..." The man began, before stopping to stare at Shiva for a moment. "Ma'am, you're not welcome in these proceedings and you weren't invited. Please leave."

"No."

The man who had spoke reached for the wand hanging from a holster on his wrist, only to find it not there.

Albus sighed, placing the man's wand on the desk. "And this is what I was trying to explain to you, before you started insisting to see Harry first. With the recent happenings in the school, which I have duly reported to the Governors, this lady has appointed herself guardian of Harry." Harry thought it odd the emphasis the headmaster had placed on the word guardian. "Even if I were to disagree with her on this, I would find I lack the power to gainsay her choice. Now, ignore her if you must, but she isn't leaving."

Quiet surprise was visible on Shiva's face at those words, though she only nodded.

The man looked behind him, seeing his wand on the desk and considering the Headmaster's words. His partner shook her head. "Mr. Potter, I am Cordelia Clearwater with the Office of Muggle-Raised Child Protective Services, and this is Auror James Eddinson, my partner for today. Do you know why I am here today?"

Harry looked between the two of them and then to the Headmaster, who gave nothing away with his smile. If it'd been just the aurors, he assumed it would be to talk about Professor Lockhart's death, but this lady? "Uh, no."

"When was the last time you saw your Aunt and Uncle?" Cordelia prompted him.

"Before first year." Harry easily answered, and then started realizing what she might be here for. "Am I being pulled from school?"

Cordelia shook her head. "Not right now, no. But you didn't return home for last summer? Why not?"

"Because Mr. Flamel invited me to stay the summer with him, and he said something about them not getting a choice in where I go for an education, or something similar."

Cordelia threw a startled glance to Dumbledore who merely nodded. "And the winter breaks then?"

"I don't like or love my Aunt and that part of my family. I would have been lucky if they'd actually shown up to pick me up from the train back, anyways." Harry shrugged. Almost two years away from them had deadened the horrible memories. "If I can manage it, I don't want to go back there this summer either."

"You don't have to worry about that, Mr. Potter." Cordelia sighed. "Your Aunt and Uncle refused to register you with the Muggle representation of Hogwarts, and instead spread a story that you had gone to a St. Brutus' Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys."

Harry boggled at that. "Say what?"

"I don't have all the details, but your Muggle cousin was picked up by their policemen for fighting, and things snowballed from there. Your Aunt and Uncle have been taken in for child abuse, negligence, failing to report a missing child for over a year, and a host of other related charges with regards to you. In fact, you've been declared missing and presumably dead because of how long it's been since you vanished from the Muggle world." Cordelia was rubbing her temples at this point. "So you have no guardian any more, and the paperwork has caught up to us on that point."

"And the point of bringing Mr. Potter here was what then?" Professor McGonagall spoke up.

Cordelia looked at the Deputy Headmistress. "We have to verify the child is alive and healthy when they go missing from Muggle society. There's only been a few cases where parents don't register their child correctly, and we can usually get it fixed without any issue." She looked at Harry once more. "However, in this case, your Aunt and Uncle were charged with a number of crimes, as your cousin told a number of stories about you and what your punishments were."

Harry winced when she pulled a number of papers from a satchel that had been hanging from her chair. "In the interest of either getting your family out of jail or confirming their need to be there, I have to know if your cousin was exaggerating these-"

Harry cut her off by grabbing the papers from her, his eyes quickly picking up the text. "Yes, yes, it was a week not a couple of days, no." He looked up, taking a deep breath. "Dudley never saw her swinging the frying pan at my head, so that's not listed here. Can we just leave them there and forget this ever happened?"

The witch blinked owlishly at Harry, shaking her head. "There's still the issue of you presumed dead in the Muggle world, you need a guardian, and a number of other things."

"Harry is not a child in need of a protector, he is now quite capable of that himself." Shiva interrupted. "I watch over Harry during the few times he is unable to, such as when he sleeps. If he had more than a single subject beyond the adolescent dragon, I would not even be required for that. There is only one entity that I have even the slightest apprehension about, and whatever guardian you might set for him would not stand up to the one you refer to as Voldemort."

There were several gasps at the name, and Harry watched with amusement as now the Headmaster was rubbing his temples. The old man took a lemon drop from his candy dish before answering. "Under our laws, Harry is still considered a child, and a guardian stands in his place for legal requirements." As Harry opened his mouth to argue, Dumbledore held up a hand. "I know both of your feelings on this."

"You-Know-Who has been dead since you were a child, Mr. Potter. It was you who defeated him." The auror finally spoke up.

Harry looked at the auror, shaking his head. "And yet, I fought and killed him twice more since then, and then watched him escape-"

"What possible reason would Lucius Malfoy have for having your budget increased to levels unseen since my fight with Grindelwald, if not to train and equip you all for a battle with the Dark Lord?" Dumbledore interrupted Harry, motioning for his silence. "Have you not heard of the speech he gave two months ago, about his wards barely rebuffing Voldemort, and his loss of his son in that?"

"I don't trust him." The auror stubbornly answered. "I know where he stood last time, why change his tune now? I know he's angling for something."

"This is all well and good," Cordelia jumped back into the conversation, "and if You-Know-Who is actually back, Albus, I'm going to be updating my home wards. But Mr. Potter needs a guardian, especially if You-Know-Who truly is back."

"They can set no guardian over him that can do anything he or I cannot." Shiva articulated once more. "And if you think either of us will allow some interloper to interfere, you are very sorely mistaken."

Harry opened himself to the Tri-Throne for a moment, the magics reflecting into his draconic eyes. Harry managed to contain the wince to just being internal as the weight of the Aspect of Dragon's magic settled into the room. "I don't want someone trying to run my life for me. Next year any test you run will show me as seventeen."

Everyone save Shiva and Dumbledore took several steps back from Harry.

"Enough!" Dumbledore's voice rose, and Harry felt the Headmaster's own magic pushing back against him. No, it felt more like it was trying to block the magic from pushing against the others in the room. Harry let go of the Tri-Throne, even as his other half was now paying much closer attention. "Register Mr. Potter as a Ward of Hogwarts, with Nicholas Flamel as his primary. If he will not take it, Filius will as his Head of House."

Cordelia nodded jerkily. Auror Eddinson was once again grasping at his empty wand holster, before snatching his wand from Dumbledore's desk.

Dumbledore's own magic receded as well, before he nodded back to the shaken witch. "Thank you for your time then. Minerva, could you see them to a floo or the gate, whichever they prefer?"

McGonagall silently pulled the two with her out of the office.

Dumbledore then looked to Harry. "Might does not make right, Harry. On rare occasions, yes, but not with those who we want to work with us of their own accord. Think on this, are you a mindless dragon ruling his nest through fear and intimidation? Or are you the King, ruling justly and loved?"

Harry was quiet for a moment, even his other half taken to task. "The King. I'm not apologizing though, I had to make my point."

"Then learn to make your point without having to beat someone with it, Harry. The level of power you have demands restraint, not a child's tantrum."

* * *

><p>Several weeks later found Auror Eddinson sitting on a pier watching the deep mists that flowed from Azkaban prison along with his partner, John Dawlish. Tied to the pier floated several specially charmed boats that would deliver a shift of Aurors to the island.<p>

"Boat duty sucks." Dawlish complained, a deck of cards floating in front of him as he played solitaire. "What the hell'd I do to deserve this?"

James looked at him. "Your Patronus sucks, worse than mine. You barely edged me out for last place in fitness in last week's test, and you've done nothing but bitch about the new requirements. In front of at least two trainers, in one case. You really need to ask? I know why I'm out here at least." The Auror mentally flashed back to running scared from a kid, and then Cordelia's truthful, if derogatory, report about his reactions.

"Oh shut up."

The docks were quiet again as only the sound of the magically shuffling cards were heard, until several cracks of Apparition echoed.

Both aurors looked down the docks to see a blond man in his early twenties standing at the edge of the pier. Next to him was a very odd looking creature, almost like a deformed house elf. James pulled his eyes away from that creature in time to see the six men standing behind the blond wore the white masks of Death Eaters.

"Oh fuck." Eddinson whispered.

Dawlish stood, his wand pointed forward as his cards neatly set down on the table. "That's not in good taste to wear those. What do you want?"

Eddinson's reaction was tempered by the prior conversation that had put him here in the first place. His crack of Apparition away was barely managed before the ward against it fell into place.

"Hmm, a very good reaction, if not one I expected. We'll have to hurry a little more than I expected." The blond said, striding forward.

Dawlish frowned at the spot his partner had been in, before readdressing the group moving in front of him. "I said, what do you want?" Dawlish frowned as the man got closer. He looked like a cousin to Lucius Malfoy.

"Crucio."

A lone scream pierced the docks as a wand had appeared in the creature's hand. From the angle and height, the spell had the auror's crotch as its target point.

Dawlish fell to the ground thrashing, shattering his wand as he tried to get away from the all encompassing source of pain.

One of the masked Death Eaters stepped forward, his boot coming down against the auror's chest before he could fall into the water to mercifully drown.

Eyes glowing with a red inner light, Voldemort smiled as Dawlish continued to scream his pain for several long minutes before his vocal cords snapped. "Enough, Severus. A mind lost to the madness will not feed our new allies as well."

The short creature pulled its wand away from the auror. "Yes, Master." Severus kicked the auror.

"Onto the boats, we have a prison to take and allies to gain." Voldemort called. "Load the auror in."

The ride into the mists surrounding the prison was quiet, broken only by the occasion broken sob of Dawlish.

As the boats drew closer to the dock on the island itself several Dementors could be seen, drawn to the docks by the influx of new emotions. Voldemort stepped out of the boat first, lifting his hand and levitating the trembling body of John Dawlish. With a single motion, Dawlish flew forward and crashed onto land at the feet of one of the Dementors.

"You may have him, all the aurors, and any that do not bow before me. I intend to take the entire world and I am seeking allies." Voldemort called to the Dementors that were already bunching up on the curling auror. "Join me, and what souls that do not accept me, will all belong to your kind."

Voldemort knew, from memories he had taken from the Horcruxes he had absorbed to empower the Malfoy child's body, that the Dementors had a sort of hive mind. Addressing one was addressing them all.

As Voldemort and his Death Eaters watched as the soul of John Dawlish was ripped from his body to be consumed, Voldemort felt a pulse of dark magic echo from the Dementor back towards the castle prison.

Screams could be heard and flashes of Patronus light flared as the aurors on duty were suddenly inundated with Dementors attempting to feast upon them.

But Voldemort paid little attention to it, save to call his Death Eaters forward to assist their new allies. The pulse of magic he had memories of feeling before, but this time it seemed almost familiar. Never before could he enjoin the Dementors to reveal that which created them, but now with a need for ever-growing power to take the Chamber of Secrets back from that child...

"Dementors. Many times before, I have asked to know the secrets behind your existence, and you rebuffed me. I offer something new in bargain for this. Severus!"

The imp stepped forward, still staying in his master's shadow. Snape brandished a golden ring, with a green glowing gemstone. He turned the stone three times and from it issued forth the form of a man dead years before. "What in the blazing hells?" The voice of James Potter spoke from the spirit. A look of dark glee was on Snape's impish face.

"I offer you the souls of every dead since the dawn of time, called forth to sate your hunger. Give me unlimited access to that which creates you, and it is yours!"

A Dementor glided forward, and Snape shivered as the creature came close enough for its effect to take hold of him. Only his greater fear of his master kept him standing there. The hood of the daemon pulled back, revealing a spectral skeleton that then embraced the called upon soul of James Potter. "What, no!"

The soul of James Potter vanished into the Dementor, Severus cackling. Voldemort felt the dark magic pulse again, and many times more as the Dementors called to one another. Finally, the Dementor knelt in front of Voldemort.

Voldemort laughed, and aimed his wand into the sky over Azkaban even as fighting was still taking place. "Morsmordre!"

* * *

><p>The next morning hundreds of owls poured into the Great Hall, each carrying a newspaper. A paper dropped in front of every student and teacher, before the owls took off once more.<p>

In the flurry of feathers, it took a few moments for the first paper to be unrolled. As students caught sight of the headline, gasps of horror began echoing up and down the tables.

Harry managed to pull his own copy open, his eyes narrowing.

_**Dark Mark flies over Azkaban!**_

Under that was a very distant shot of an island with a castle, cold mist flowing around it. Above the prison castle floated the Dark Mark. Darker shapes moved around it and inside the fog, giving the moving picture an even more menacing feel.

Harry quickly glanced over the article even as the volume of student voices in the Great Hall was quickly reaching a shouting level. Only one survivor, who had tried to rouse other Aurors but hadn't managed to. Everyone on the island was considered captured or dead, or returned to You-Know-Who's service.

Suddenly the paper and it's roughly six hundred copies pulled into the air as the Headmaster summoned all the copies which piled up on the head table. They vanished a moment later.

"Classes are cancelled today, in the wake of this news. Students who have aurors in the family, please speak with your head of house. I will contact the Ministry for you." The Headmaster's voice held none of the joviality it had held only the day before. "Those of you without family in the aurors, please give your fellow students your consideration."

* * *

><p>AN: So, this will be the one and only time I specifically ask for reviews in this story, rather than just requesting them. If you have gotten to this point without reviewing once on Summoner's Stone or this story, all I ask is that you review at least once by the end of this series. Thanks!

Read and review!


	4. A silver lining

So, I'm not going to make any excuses. I had this half written for forever. And I also don't like how short it ended up being, but it ended where it ended for this chapter. And no, I wasn't holding the fic hostage for a certain number of reviews. I'm not that dumb, though that's probably what a lot of you thought when this didn't go up any time soon after my last request. If I still have any readers out there, thanks for sticking with me.

* * *

><p>The vanished newspapers had ended up in the common rooms, where the crowds were less and not as likely to blow up in fights.<p>

At least in Ravenclaw tower the papers were read and re-read, facts and figures picked out as best as the article gave.

"You know, this would have been a lot better in the Quibbler." One of the older students sighed to himself, tossing the paper down.

Harry saw Luna frown, but not speak up. He did so in her place. "Why better in the Quibbler?"

The sixth year looked up, a bit of surprise that he'd been overheard. "At least then we could say it was blown out of proportion." He looked at Luna. "Your da, even when he's telling the truth, spins it up. The Prophet tries to downplay anything bad, and if it's this bad here." The older teen shivered. "It had to be nasty."

"Aurors are coppers, right?" Harry asked aloud, looking around. He got a few nods. "Why can't they take care of this then?" He shook the paper in the air. "Why are they getting beat up and killed so easily?"

"You-Know-Who isn't your average criminal, Harry." Roger spoke up. "From what my parents said, about the only person he was afraid of was the Headmaster. And he can't be everywhere."

Harry set the paper back down, the feeling from his other seemed slighted. "I think there's at least one more now."

A smug feeling that Harry wasn't sure wasn't from himself and not the other.

* * *

><p>When Harry walked into Defense Against the Dark Arts the next morning, he was fully expecting Mrs. Flamel to start 'not teaching' at an even higher level.<p>

The fact that Nicholas Flamel was instead waiting patiently filled Harry with a certain level of dread. It was reflected in his fellow second years as well.

"My wife will be taking over potions for the last month of the school year. Before you ask why, I will tell you. It is no longer enough to train you all to be aware of your surroundings, and know how to identify my wife's little traps. With the return of Voldemort-" here a number of students shuddered or flinched, "and we'll get that fixed as well, awareness is not enough."

A wave of the wand Nicholas held, and six dummies appeared, conjured from thin air. They held wands as well.

"I do not expect to turn you into duelists or fighters in the month we have. I do not even expect anyone in your year to successfully strike back. However, I do expect you all to learn enough that once you are outside the walls of this castle, you can survive long enough to get away."

Another flick of his wand and the dummies changed. They wore the robes of death eaters and slowly started to spread out.

"These are your death eaters. They will be casting spells at you for the remainder of the class time. Green is the killing curse, black is the Crucio. Red is a violent splitting hex that can shatter your ribs and make your heart burst, if you get a direct hit. All three are actually stunners that will keep you down for two or three minutes."

As the transformed dummies raised their wands, Nicholas smiled. "There will be a bonus for the student that is hit the least, and extra punishment for the one hit the most. Begin." With that, Nicholas' form darkened and blurred. "I'll be playing Voldemort."

"_Crucio!"_ 'Voldemort' called, and a black spell raced out and slammed into one student, knocking them to the ground. Screams erupted as the dummies began firing spells as well and the DADA classroom descended into madness.

Harry quickly dived under one of the desks, the green light of the killing curse barely whizzing above his head. Other students were diving as well, some hit by spells and other just trying to get some sort of cover.

Harry looked up at Shiva, who was sitting calmly amongst the chaos. She gave him a smile and shook her head. "This is your training. Though I will always try my best to protect you, you must learn to protect yourself, _Bahamut._" Her last word was quiet, a winter's breeze that caressed him not in the English language. Harry shook himself, turning a little red at the interesting contact.

"Right." Harry stood, and almost immediately had three separate spells headed his way. Without time to touch his focus, Harry twisted his fingers in front of him just so. "_Protego!"_ The wall of magic sprang into being and the two red spells crashed into it. The green spell that was supposed to be the killing curse passed through his shield and for a moment, Harry knew no more.

He awoke just a few minutes later as the stunner wore off, his robes stained with a little of the green from the spell and saw 'Voldemort' standing in front of him. "Nice spell, Potter. Did you forget the Unforgivables can't be shielded against?"

The other inside him tried to roar forward, but Harry pushed back, trying to impress on it that this wasn't a real battle.

"Eyes front." A wand lifted Harry's head back up to Mr. Flamel in his Voldemort disguise. "Come boy, it's time to play. _Cruc-"_

The wand snapped in two as Harry's hand was suddenly holding onto Flamel's, an unknown strength filling him. There was a subtle building of magic in his chest as Harry suddenly and frantically threw himself into mental battle against the dragon roaring in his own mind.

"Master yourself, Mr. Potter. Whatever power you may have, it does you no good if you don't control it."

Nicholas stepped back from Harry, turning on him to continue the fight among the other students. With the man's dismissal of Harry, the boy's other faded back again a bit, enough for Harry to look at the chunk of wand in his hand, and the nails that had grown half an inch, before they receded back once more.

_Huh, maybe there's more to Madam Pomphrey's animagus thing than I thought?_

Before he could continue that line of thought, Harry had to throw himself out of the way of another black Crucio. Looking up, one of the dummies was advancing on him. Unfortunately, there were too many others scurrying around nearby for Harry's comfort in using any Command magic, and all he could do was dodge another spell.

Harry was pushed out of the way of another spell, only to see that it was because Hermione had been fallen against him, hit by one of the killing curse stunners.

"Fine, let's play it that way then." Reaching into himself for magic, Harry focused not on the dummies or Mr. Flamel, but himself and the other second years. "Hastega!"

He sagged for a moment tagging that many people at once with the reaction and speed enhancer, but was able to quickly dodge the next volley of incoming spellfire. Under the effects of the Haste, Harry saw the dummies and Mr. Flamel begin to up their spell casting to compensate.

* * *

><p>By the end of class, no one had been spared dozens of hits by the dummies, even after Harry had tried using Slow against them all.<p>

"Now, what today's demonstration was, was an example of how a handful of people could throw forty students into complete panic." At the last few minutes of class, the room had returned itself to normal and Mr. Flamel was standing at the desk lecturing again.

"Six dummies and myself. Next time, I'll expect you all to do better about protecting yourselves. As Mr. Potter so eloquently proved early on, shields do not matter to the Unforgivables. Instead, put something between you and the spell." He waved them all off. "Since you all got hit so many times, you all get the extra homework. Each of you will stand in front of the class next time, saying Voldemort until you don't flinch. Class dismissed, Mr. Potter, please stay behind."

Harry lingered behind, his classmates throwing him worried looks as they filed out. Harry wasn't worried, exactly, but didn't know why he had to stay back. He hadn't done any worse than the others.

After the last student had left, Nicholas motioned at the door and it shut itself. Another gesture and one of the chairs pulled itself from the wall where it'd been sitting the entire class, coming to a halt next to Harry. Nicholas then leaned against the professor's desk and motioned Harry to sit.

"You realize that you're going to be the most targeted person in Britain, the moment you step outside of Hogwarts?"

Harry sat, frowning. "I'd figured that Voldemort wouldn't like me throwing him out of the throne room, but seriously? The most targeted? Out of the entire British Isles?"

It was Shiva who answered him, having chosen to stay standing nearby. "You handily defeated him, Harry. Multiple times, in multiple incarnations. Very few would accept that."

"Exactly." Nicholas replied. "With him taking Azkaban, it gives him a base to work out of and the contingent of Dementors to serve him, beyond his death eaters. What he did to gain their allegiance I could not even begin to guess." The alchemist sighed. "I doubt Voldemort will be very quiet about using them. But I digress. My point is Harry, is that you will be a high value target at the end of the month when school ends. I would prefer to keep you out of his sights."

Harry shifted in the chair. "So you want me to what, come back to France with you and Mrs. Flamel? That'd be a good place to start, I guess."

"No." Nicholas shook his head. "I will likely be staying here at Hogwarts if things become as bad as I expect, and I would keep you here. Behind the Hogwarts wards, with enough people here to make Voldemort think twice about attacking. It is your seat of power as well."

Now Harry sighed, standing and turning the seat around before sitting once more, his arms crossed against the back of it. "Yeah, but I need to get to the Throne of Ice. I've been looking into ways to get to the Himalayas this summer, to get Shiva back there. I was hoping you might have a Portkey there, or something." Harry shrugged. "If not, well, Firewing's large enough to give me a ride."

"Harry, mentally you're twelve. Physically you may be almost fourteen. How much planning beyond 'get to the Himalayas' have you done?" Nicholas asked. "Food, lodgings, the fact that not everyone even speaks English? Do you know where in the Himalayas you would be going?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but the alchemist continued on. "Regardless of what power you have, you still appear to be a young teen and there are people out there that will try to take advantage of that."

"Then I was right to ask you first, I hadn't thought of all of those things. I did some of them though." Harry answered as Nicholas finally paused long enough to let Harry speak. "I didn't think about the language thing because Padma speaks English. The other stuff, yeah, I've been doing research on where I'd be going and I was going to get some Galleons out of my vault for buying stuff. There is a Gringotts India too."

Nicholas moved from the desk, walking around the room as he waved his hand, desks and chairs flying back to their original starting places. Harry watched as the man's wedding ring glinted occasionally, reminding him of the necklace focus that Professor Flitwick had used once. "It would get you further out of harm's way," he mused as he righted the room, "though Perenelle is likely to want my head over letting you go."

Harry didn't say anything as the temporary professor talked to himself. "And you can't travel by flame due to Shiva, but that doesn't preclude..." he trailed off, looking at Harry thoughtfully. "It has been several decades since I've been anywhere near India. However, just a few years ago I was in Lecce in Italy. It is a major hub for wizarding tourism in Italy and you can likely get a portkey from there to India without issue. I will provide you with a portkey there under two conditions. The first being you travel with Iris. A vanishingly small number of wizards will try to take advantage of someone with a phoenix companion."

Harry nodded. "So long as she doesn't try to transport me, that's cool."

"Secondly, you have just under a month to the end of the school year. I want a detailed written plan from you on how you expect to deal with any difficulties that will arise from language barriers and anything else. If I don't think that you are through enough, you agree to not go until I say your plans are ready."

"You're not just going to keep saying I'm not prepared enough, are you?" Harry guessed.

Nicholas shook his head with a hint of a smile. "No, I wouldn't do that to you. For at least the reason that you would eventually stop listening to me and go anyways."

"Deal then." Harry grinned.

"I won't slack on you in class though, in fact I will push everyone harder to push you as hard as I dare." Nicholas warned him, as Harry stood to leave.

"That's fine too." Harry's eyes were bright now that he had a way forward. "If you'll excuse me, I guess I have studying to do."

* * *

><p>The next morning an announcement went out that all newspaper deliveries were now to be delivered directly to the dorm rooms. Everyone understood why, though Harry paid it little attention.<p>

For all that Mrs. Flamel had just played at instructing students in Defense, she proved no slouch in potions and piled theory and practical work onto the students that required a lot of almost insane effort to complete successfully.

In the few moments he had between the last minute deluge of extra work and his research, Harry had the fleeting thought that she was purposely trying to eat into his research time. Haste was liberally abused that.

Research included reading the Daily Prophet however, to keep up with what was happening with Akzaban and the outside world. While nothing happened for the first week, Harry was smart enough to read between the lines of the hysteria that was building up outside the castle walls.

It was easy enough because it reflected in the school as well. Conspiracies about what was going on, several students leaving for funerals over the original attack, a few more pulled out early because of parental fears.

* * *

><p>Thus it was a strange sort of dreadful relief when ten days later an attack was reported. Though it may have been in the Prophet, the students learned of first at breakfast.<p>

A meal that many were beginning to learn to dread.

As soon as the majority of students had finished their morning meal, the Headmaster stood from the professor's table. The twinkling eye and smile was all but gone from the normally jovial old wizard. "Before you all return to your dorms to news, I would prefer to share it with you here. Last night a large number of Dementors came ashore in the hamlet of Homore. Most of you will not recognize the name, as it is almost entirely Muggle, but a large number of Aurors and myself apparated out to combat them."

Whispers and worried looks broke out, though for most students the fact that it was a muggle village was a question. Why them and not wizards?

"In good news however, these Dementors were weak and new, as the Patronus Charm more than drove off most, it destroyed them. Professor Nicholas Flamel will be going over the Patronus with all of you while you are still here, though I do not think you will have time to master it." Dumbledore waved his own wand, and a silver version of Fawkes erupted. "The charm creates an embodiment of positive energy and magic that may overcome the Dementors. Learn well, and practice it."


	5. Give up, Give in? Give 'em hell

A/N: I'd expected that we'd get to the Throne next chapter. I think now it may be a couple of chapters to get there. Fallout, ya know?

* * *

><p>Harry sat quietly as the mediwitch continued her monthly routine, a frown on her face the entire time. While she did so, Harry's eyes roved the Hospital Wing. It had been somewhat changed since his last monthly checkup, a few more beds put into place and he could see expansion charms had been started on some areas. From what he knew from Madam Pomfrey, the Hospital Wing was going to be used as a secondary bedding area for St. Mungo's this summer.<p>

"It hasn't changed one whit. You're still aging three times as fast as you should be." Madam Pomfrey complained, pulling Harry's attention back to her. "Given a few more weeks and you'll physically be fourteen, instead of two months to thirteen."

"I'm not going to complain." Harry shrugged. "I don't think it's really hurting me. All it means is I can quit being bugged about not being an adult sooner, right?"

"And when you're an old man and can't move when you should only be forty or fifty? What then, Mr. Potter?" The matron asked.

Harry smiled. "I think the phrase is 'I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.'"

"Merlin help us all next year when you'll be able to pass as an adult then. It's hard enough for you kids to get your feet on the ground when you've had all your years of living to learn. Cutting out half of them?" She shook her head.

Shrugging, Harry stayed quiet as the woman fussed a bit more, before settling in to her job once more. Waving her wand over him once more, a much more irritated look came over her. "Mr. Potter, I haven't been spending these past few months trying to untangle the mess you'd made out of an Animagus transfiguration only for you to tie it into worse knots. What have you been doing?"

"Nothing on purpose. I kinda shifted a bit during a Defense class a week ago, I think?" Harry offered her.

Pomfrey's irritated face gained an actual scowl. "And you didn't think you might want to come see if you'd done anything to yourself? I know I had Professor McGonagall explain exactly what issues could come up from you trying to force a change. If you'd come to me when you first shifted, I could have fixed it immediately."

"So, what, I'm closer to pulling off the Animagus transformation than I was? That doesn't sound like a bad thing." Harry shrugged, and then actually growled at the mediwitch as she popped him upside the head lightly.

The woman almost stepped back as the growl tried to strike a primal nerve, but the mediwitch was able to keep her ground. "No, Mr. Potter. Since you obviously can't remember what you were told, I will remind you. If you get stuck in a partial transformation with your magic twisted like this, it can take hours or days to fix. What if your form is a water breather? You'll suffocate to death because your human body can't get the air from gills to non-existent lungs. Not even throwing you in the lake would fix that. Or a bird. Your bones go hollow and they all shatter under your human weight."

"And since it's most likely a dragon?" Harry asked. He knew this answer too, as Professor McGonagall had already ranted about this once.

"You cannot become a magical creature, Mr. Potter. Now since you've ruined several months of work, give me a few minutes to at least stabilize you again before you backslide any further."

Harry rolled his eyes but kept his opinions to himself over that. He glanced at Shiva who sat in a windowsill, alternately watching him and looking out the window. Catching her eye she shrugged, a gesture she'd picked up recently.

"All the exercises and self tests that Professor McGonagall gave me haven't done anything, you know." Harry said while Poppy's wand was cavorting over him, the mediwitch casting in low tones. "Until last week, I didn't believe I actually had any Animagus ability."

"Just," Pomfrey sighed out her aggravation, snapping her wand over Harry one last time, "be careful. If you make any changes again, come see me immediately, do you understand?"

"Sure, if I'm here when it happens."

"Alright, get going then. You're as healthy as you've been, now that I've at least stabilized the Animagus transformation. Again." The matron shooed him off. "I've got other things to do as well."

Harry nodded and stood from the chair. "Thanks, I guess. At least I'm not confined here for weeks at a time, huh?"

"Merlin forbid."

Harry laughed and left, with Shiva nodding to the mediwitch as she followed him out.

Pomfrey frowned and sighed afterwards, before turning to the barely lit fireplace. Throwing a bit of powder on it, she called out for the Headmaster's office before stepping through.

She entered the Headmaster's office to find more than just Albus, but both Flamel's and even Lucius Malfoy sitting around a desk. The old headmaster looked at her for a moment before smiling. "And how is Mr. Potter doing then, Poppy?"

She looked at Malfoy, before shaking her head. "You know I don't discuss matters outside those who need to know, Headmaster. I'll return at a later time." She paused. "Do make sure you stop by though, please."

With that, the mediwitch left the office once more.

"At least she has that sense." Lucius stated, before looking back to the others and dismissing her. "Now, short of having Cornelius thrown out of his office, I've done about as much as I can in getting the Ministry prepared for the Dark Lord, as agreed. Amelia has had unprecedented levels of support and funding to fix the Auror Corps. What are your plans? Please do not tell me you mean to be completely reactionary."

"Only as I must. Likely though, Voldemort will have the lead on his attacks until the school year ends. Dementors require devouring a magical soul to breed, and after his initial attack I have been unable to discover where Voldemort has found so many souls to bring the number of young Dementors that the last attack had. Until the children are back in their parent's custody, it is Hogwart's duty to defend them."

Malfoy's eyes went dark with loss at that.

"Be that as it may, Albus, it's not going to do any good to allow Voldemort to choose all the battles." Nicholas added. "If you do not take the offense quickly, you may never get it. If a Patronus can destroy the young Dementors, perhaps Fawkes and a few other phoenix can keep those in Azkaban from having free reign at least, until Amelia can get the Aurors to a more military state than the police officers they are now."

"You realize, Dumbledore, that unless you are seen leading this fight, the Dark Lord will become even more bold. You are the only one he ever had to call his full magic upon to fight." Lucius got a few looks for that. "I can assure you, the Dark Lord is more powerful than you think. One reason so many flocked to him is because of this."

Lucius bared his arm, showing his Dark Mark to those at the table. "You know that when you fought him, his Death Eaters were weakened."

"Yes. Though Severus never allowed me to probe the magics behind his own mark, I assume there was a siphon on it, to allow him greater magic when he needed it." Dumbledore looked at the mark carefully.

"No. Each Mark was crafted as a recipient of magical power. It drove the Dark Lord to a fury that for all that he outclassed you in magical potential and power, he was still forced to reclaim the additional power he gave to each of his followers just to stand on an even footing with you."

* * *

><p>It was almost a week after everyone else had left to go home, and Hogwarts seemed to almost lock itself down. Harry had been moved from the Ravenclaw dorms to a small room just down the hall from the Flamel's quarters. Apparently it was once a servant's quarters when the castle had played host to more than just students and teachers.<p>

Although right near the Flamel's rooms, Harry did not see much of them for that week, either because he continued to delve into his research to make certain his plans were detailed enough or because the Flamel's just were not there, out without telling anyone why.

While Harry had a fair idea as to why, there had been three more mass attacks by Dementors on muggle villages near Azkaban, it still was annoying once he'd finished and couldn't find Nicholas to get it looked over.

He'd finally had to just sit outside the door to their room for almost six hours before catching him coming back in, looking tired but not hurt. Which was good, in Harry's opinion.

Harry yawned himself. It was fairly late by this point. "I'm finished with it. Can you look now?"

The alchemist nodded and opened the door to the room, ushering Harry and the ever present Shiva in and taking the booklet Harry offered him.

The room was nicely laid out with a bunch of chairs and a roaring fire and Nicholas motioned the other two to take a seat as he sat down as well. Nicholas then looked at the small booklet that Harry had given to him. Flipping it open, he read through a random page for a moment. "The Italian, I could understand you muddling through with dictionaries to translate. I assume you received help with the Hindi translation?"

Harry nodded. "Padma. I had to promise to let her know what I find 'if I survive'. She doesn't think I'll actually go through with it, I think."

"Whereas you are bound and determined." Nicholas noted, still flipping through the pages. "Multiple days in Lecce, estimated funds to buy both a portkey and pay for someone to translate for you, good. The general statements to find both someone to translate and get room and board. Good."

"What about the cold? Beyond the fact that everyone freezes to death trying to get into the Frozen Palace, what are you going to do in the meantime in the mountains?" Nicholas asked.

"Warming charms and I was going to double up on my winter clothes for here. The Throne, we can deal with that when it comes up." Harry answered back quickly.

Nicholas nodded, flipping forward another page before smiling. "This is an in-depth piece. Where did you find that Qudangxiang actually has a strong wizarding population?"

"Owl order on that one. _Travelling Unseen Asia_, it lists a whole bunch of places and the closest place that you can stay at, and the Frozen Palace at Cho Oyu is one of them. I was waiting for the past few days for that one, for better information."

Nicholas closed the booklet and offered it back to Harry. "I'm honestly impressed. I had expected you to come to me the day before school ended with whatever you had so you could leave as soon as possible. Instead you persevered to put this together right."

"So it's good enough then?" Harry asked as he took it back.

"Yes. You're likely overestimating on the amount of money you'll need, but better over than under." Nicholas yawned, covering his mouth. "In the morning, I will apparate to Carré Magique with you. I would prefer not to go to Diagon with Voldemort active as he is. From there after we withdraw your money, I will create your portkey and send the two of you and Iris off."

Harry gave a big grin to the alchemist.

"Lady Shiva, you've been awfully quiet over this. Did you have anything you wanted to add?" Nicholas asked the Aspect.

Soft kimono like robes rustling as she stood, Shiva shook her head. "I still know little of the current world beyond this school and your own home. My current form is sustained between the magic that Harry offered and the Throne of Ice so there is little I will need in the way of travelling material."

"Then I will see you both in the morning."

* * *

><p>Carré Magique was as busy as it had been the previous year, and the troubles that were spreading out from Azkaban to Britain didn't seem to have crossed the Channel yet, for no one seemed to be wary of other people or strange things like stories in the Prophet had hinted at.<p>

Granted, Shiva was amused at all the stares she was getting but with a phoenix with them in the form of Iris they weren't really bothered.

After taking a fairly large number of Galleons and a mokeskin bag to hold them all, Flamel took them to an open park and pulled a small piece of rope from inside his robes and offering it to Harry and Shiva. "Both of you hold onto this."

Harry took the rope, offering one side of it to Shiva who took hold as well.

"_Portus."_ Nicholas intoned, tapping the rope. "Alright, in just a minute you'll both be off. Iris will follow as well. When you finish with your business, return here and send word. I'd prefer you not return to Britain without someone knowing you are coming. Understood?"

Harry nodded. "Sure, that's good with me."

"Alright. Three, two, on-"

Nicholas faded away to Harry's vision as a mighty yank seemed to hook behind his stomach and spun him about, the world spinning into a vast black nothingness. Looking across the piece of rope, he could see a faint frown on Shiva's face as she rode out the magics as well, but Harry was happy to have something to focus on.

Faster and faster Harry spun, yet he stood still as well, his hand frozen around the rope. How he did not get thrown away he wasn't sure.

Finally after minutes of increasing spinning speeds, Harry felt himself jerk to a halt, the endpoint of the Portkey. As the world slowed and returned to visibility, Harry stumbled and fell forward, forcing Shiva to let go of the rope and catch him, one of her arms wrapping around him to keep him balanced.

Harry's face burned when he realized where and what he'd fallen against, and he quickly pulled himself back up. "Uh-"

"Do not worry, Harry." Shiva let him go with a smile, her hand resting on his shoulder for a moment longer to make sure he was standing stable after the trip. "There must be something about your magics that makes gravity based teleportation common to wizards."

She looked around, as people stared back at her, before a flash of blue flame appeared above the crowd, Iris' own magic bringing her along. The blue phoenix landed on Shiva's shoulder, her colors mixing well with Shiva's own blue skin and clothing.

"If you try to transport me, I swear I will freeze you. And are you not supposed to be guarding Harry?" Shiva said under her breath, before throwing a glare at the crowd that now was at least forty wizards and witches.

Harry sighed as he realized he couldn't understand one word the people whispering and pointing were saying. "Before you all go back to gawking, does anyone speak English?"

That brought most of the crowd up, and most of the looked at Harry in confusion. One man spoke up though, speaking in accented English. "I speak it, child. Who might you all be?"

"I'm Harry, that's Shiva, and the phoenix is Iris. Can you point me to a Portkey maker, preferably one that speaks English too?"

"You travel with a phoenix." The man pointed out, quite unnecessarily in Harry's opinion. "And a very interesting lady as well. Would you be so kind as to answer at least some of my curiosity?"

"If you will lead us to someone that will sell a Portkey, then perhaps." Shiva answered.

The man bowed with a flourish, his white cloak rippling. "Ah, my lady, for your attention and answers that is but a trifling." He looked at the other people and said something in a language Harry did not understand, likely Italian. A few people in the crowd chattered back at him, before he shooed them away. "Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Ezio Auditore, a wizard of some not so small note here."

Harry growled, a deep rumbling. The wizard, Ezio, gave him a startled look but Shiva put her hand on Harry's shoulder once more. "I am not interested in giving you attention of that kind." She directed to the Italian.

"Ah, you wound me so. But that is alright, my wife would wound me more if I had a dalliance." Ezio smiled. "Come, come. You have not been to Lecce before, have you? I will show you the sights on the way to Tonio."

Ezio led the two through the tight streets of the city then, pointing out different locations, before they ended up in a messy throng of people that forced them to slow down. "Ah, the market. Here is where worlds mingle, for those who are without magic are never sure what they hear in the marketplace."

Harry looked around and couldn't help but agree. Just in visible sight, there had to be several hundred people. Though most were too busy with their own life to notice anything around them, he saw that Shiva was still getting plenty of odd looks for both her coloring and the phoenix that still rode her shoulder.

"Ah, but sight is another. True, true. Well, come, we must get to Tonio's shop while not all attention is on you, my lady. And perhaps a bit of someone else's problem…" Ezio pulled a very short wand and make a few movements with it. "There, those who have not seen you yet will find it difficult to pay attention to any of us."

Tonio's shop was a little hole in the wall place that from the single pane of glass looked like a curio and knick-knack shop. "Tonio, I bring you customers." Ezio called to the short man at the counter, who smiled. "And now I must be off, for my wife will think I have been dallying too long. Enjoy your vacation, yes?"

After Ezio left, Tonio spoke up, his English barely accented. "Customers? Are you looking for souvenirs or travel arrangements?" His eyes rested on the phoenix on Shiva's shoulder, but he didn't comment.

"We need a Portkey." Harry answered, pulling the man's attention back to him. "Can you make one to Qudangxiang, in Tibet?"

"Qudangxiang?" The man tried the word slowly. "That is a wizard community I presume?" Tonio received a nod from Harry, before he pulled a very large ledger from underneath the counter. "Let me see, the name does not ring a bell directly, but perhaps one of my boys has been on a Bounce there, as I don't have a Portkey immediately available."

"Bounce?"

"Ah. A trip to many places in the span of a week or so, to re-familiarize yourself with locations. Bouncing around, so to say." Tonio answered as he flipped through the ledger. "Hmm... Carlo was there last year, but he's on another Bounce currently." The little man looked up. "Three hundred galleons and I will have a Portkey for you in two days."

"Three hundred?" Harry asked, eyes wide. "I did look up normal prices for Portkey makers, at least in Britain. I hadn't expected more than sixty or seventy, especially if you're making me wait."

"Then you should have bought all your travel Portkeys there, sir. However, you may not have found my shop had Ezio not brought you here, so in the interest of not having you leave I will lower the price to two hundred galleons. You will still have to wait for Carlo to return."

Harry sighed. "Fine, whatever. Can you tell me where to find somewhere to stay for a couple of days while I wait on this Carlo?"

* * *

><p>The next day found Harry and Shiva wandering the magical portion of Lecce, looking for something to do to pass the time until the Portkey was ready.<p>

The major streets were interesting, as buildings several stories tall lined the wide roads, creating almost a tunnel, with only a few small areas breaking up the effect with trees that allowed the skyline to be seen.

Turning down one street the two found themselves walking towards a more residential area, with smaller buildings surrounded by stone wall fences.

"Avada-"

Though the voice was different but vaguely familiar, weeks of Nicholas Flamel's own calling of that had ingrained in Harry the need to put something physical between himself and anyone calling that. Harry threw himself into an archway that was someone's yard entrance.

"-Kedavra!"

"Shiva!" Harry yelled, for the Aspect had been turning to see who was casting. The green light of death flew at her, but missed only to hit Iris instead. The phoenix gave a startled screech before bursting into fire, an early rebirth as a little chick fell to the ground.

Two more spells slammed into a hasty barrier of ice that Shiva brought up before her, before she moved out of the line of sight of whoever was casting, a very startled look on her face.

People screamed and ran, while a few drew wands only to fall to some blackness that enveloped them.

"And now that your escape has been taken care of Potter, would you like to come out and die?" The voice called. "You won't catch me off guard and drive me away again."

_Shit._ Was Harry's only thought, as he finally recognized the voice. Voldemort in Draco's body.

"Imagine my surprise when word was brought to me of a boy and a strange blue woman. Here I assumed I would be able to gain new followers and then kill you, and you come straight to me."

Harry reached deep into himself, drawing on the Throne even as his body protested at channeling the magics as the other part of him began roaring in his mind. There was going to be no buildup of spells, throwing the magic in stages of getting stronger.

And then the world seemed to explode, as the wall Harry was hiding behind blew up from a spell and he was thrown out.

And Voldemort was there, but older? Harry paid it no mind, just as he paid no mind to the slivers and chunks of stone that were in his back. Harry, both parts of him, roared. Rubble shifted and fell.

The temperature dropped, and Harry's roar was visible as mist as Shiva's voice called over the new battlefield, cold as winter itself. "Absolute Zero."

Ice formed in thin air from where Shiva walked out of her own place, and jagged crystals flew from her towards Voldemort.

The body stealing mage lifted his hand, and Harry saw in it was a blackish-red gem with a gouge in it. The gem pulsed and the crystals melted.

"_[Flare!]"_

The Command bypassed whatever defense the gem provided, as the air around Voldemort quickly sublimated directly into plasma, before imploding.

The mixture of absolute cold and the momentary intensity of a star caused an explosion of mist that just as quickly faded, leaving Voldemort still standing, but with large portions of his flesh destroyed and missing his left arm. But the gem did not drop even though it now floated in the air, it was not destroyed.

"Powerful magic, Potter." Voldemort's voice rasped and Harry was shocked that the wizard was still alive. "Something I cannot replicate yet, but perhaps... What was it you used once before on my basilisk?"

Harry opened himself to the Tri-Throne of Bahamut once more. If it required blowing Voldemort apart one piece at a time, so be it.

"Fireaga?"

His own flesh immolated, and Harry screamed as the fires that Voldemort somehow now Commanded ate into him, only the magic of the Tri-Throne pushing back out, ending the flames before the damage became completely debilitating.

When the flames died, Harry could still see, and saw a pulse of something was causing Voldemort's hand to regrow around the gem, rebuilding his body.

"_[Flare!]"_ Harry called again, this time aiming the gem directly. But with a crack, Voldemort apparated backwards, the Command magic not following, and swallowing nothing.

"Now, now, Potter. I haven't even begun to have fun yet. Do you know what this is?" Voldemort's new but still disembodied arm waved the gem around. "Something akin to the gem you wear that allows you access to the powerful magics you use, you assume. No, more than that. It is the source of power for the Dementors. The source OF dementors. Here, let me show you."

The cold did not bother him. The crying and screaming in his head, a voice pleading to spare him, Voldemort's high pitched voice casting. That perturbed him.

The bodies that had fallen earlier, still shrouded in black magic, rose. The magic become a cloak around them. Additional enemies. That worried Harry.

"When a Dementor devours a soul of magic, this may convert them to a new Dementor. A shattered soul such as mine can never be fully converted, Potter, but I still draw its power. I am the Lord of all Dementors, Potter." Voldemort cackled as his body finished regrowing itself. "And now, it is time for you to serve me. Die and rise my slave."

Harry didn't know how to Apparate, couldn't move fast enough. Blackness surrounded him and Harry felt himself falling, before all went dark.

Shiva's eyes went wide, and then narrowed as she faced Voldemort and the other Dementors alone, Harry's body still as death and shrouded, not rising.

"Perhaps if you were to completely destroy me, you might save him before his magic is completely converted." Voldemort smiled thinly. "But then, you use his magic as your own, don't you? Can you take the magic from him, hurrying his death along and defeat me before you use it all up?"

The air, already freezing, fell even further as ice crystals formed and held the new Dementors into place.

"Oh wonderful, you're going to try. Do recall you've been beaten before. Before I had this power. Struggle futilely, and when Potter becomes one of mine, you will serve me as well."

"Harry's power is just a gate." Shiva's voice was barely audible above the icy blasts that began to blow.

"_[Throne of Ice, hear me and bow to my demands. Surrender the magic you withhold.]"_ Shiva called, demanding against the strictures put against her until she returned to her own Throne. The Empress of Ice and Snow would not be denied. Not now, not when Harry's life depended on her actions.

Over four thousand miles away, buried under uncountable eons of winter, something bowed its head.

And in southern Italy during the summer months, Winter took hold.

"Diamond Dust." Shiva blew out her crystal breath. Where the crystals touched, all heat ceased. The first Dementor was touched and frosted over, before the near hurricane force arctic winds shattered the creature.

The wind howled through the city as snow fell, inches at a time.

-o0o- -o0o-

Something warm was touching him, shaking him. He struggled to open his eyes.

"Wake up, Harry."

Opening his eyes, Harry found himself looking at a woman of living flame, surrounded by a void of darkness. "Fawkes? Phoenix?"

A somber laugh, but the flames took a harder shape, reds outlining into hair and a body wreathed in cloth of white flame formed. A warm green flame burned in her eyes. "No Harry. I'm your mother."

Harry shot to his feet in the darkness. "Did I die then?"

"No, not yet." Lilly answered. "The protection of my blood in you is holding back whatever this is. But blood unclaimed by me, and actively denied by you will not protect you much longer. The fire that I am now fades against this attack."

Harry saw that she was right, the flames that were the woman, his mother, were slowly fading, as if they had no fuel. "Can I fix it?"

Lilly shook her head. "When your father and I went into hiding, we enacted a ritual to transfer any protections in our families to you. Claimed or not, dormant or active. We wanted you to survive. And apparently a demon of fire is part of my lineage. The flames protected you against my killer twice. But you gave up that lineage when you claimed a dragon's soul. So my soul is the only thing feeding the fire protecting you now, nothing regenerates. And when I am gone, it will devour you as well."

"No." Harry shook his head. "I can't believe that. Not now that I know something of you still exists, I won't believe it. You say this demon of fire can't protect me anymore because of Bahamut? Then as Bahamut, I will protect myself and you."

"Harry-" His mother started, a hand touching his cheek.

He'd claimed a dragon's soul. However unknowingly, he'd given up fire for fang. He had suspicions that he'd abdicated one Throne for another.

He had a dragon's soul in a mortal body, which had to be why it pained his body to draw the magic of the Tri-Thone. It didn't matter now. He didn't open himself to the Tri-Throne, he realized what he'd been doing.

He quit pushing it away from him. The separation he'd unknowingly created to keep from being overwhelmed, he ended.

Eyes that he'd unknowingly closed reopened and burned with a white light, shifting into the slitted appearance of a dragons.

Harry roared, feeling his body shifting as the darkness was blasted back, his mother's soul regaining energy as it wasn't forced it push back the darkness that Voldemort had created.

From inside his own soul, Harry rose.

-o0o- -o0o-

Voldemort was laughing as he Apparated around, dodging the crystals of Shiva's ultimate attack. The snow had gotten to be two or three feet deep already, but where Voldemort reappeared at, the snow was pushed back or compacted into a solid footing for him.

"Magnificent, all this power even as my own grows. Regardless of whether Potter is only a gate, allowing that much power means he will be an exceptional Dementor, my personal attack dog. And this is your true power as well, it will serve me!"

Shiva had directed some of her magics to try to freeze off the blackness that had surrounded Harry, but to no avail before the snowfall had covered his body completely. She could only pray that he held long enough for her to destroy the mage in front of her. Soon, there would be enough cold that she could just use it all for her Diamond Dust. There would be no escape from that.

Another four Dementors floated in, forcing Shiva to shift some of her attack to stopping them, giving Voldemort a long enough moment to Command fire at her once more. Defending against that put her on the defensive once more.

And then a roar shattered the ice around her, along with one of the Dementors who had only been frozen.

The snow that covered Harry's body exploded away. "Ah, and my new servant rises. Your time has ended."

Soft movement of air could be heard before the snow fell away, leaving Harry hovering in mid air, above the new snow.

Black wings, ragged but visibly healing, extended out from behind him, moving too slowly to actually be allowing him to hover, proving magic was what truly held him aloft. Green eyes slit and burned with magic, filled with hate as he stared at Voldemort.

"Is this the combination of the death I gave you and the power you held? Most impressive. Destroy your old companion, and resummon her under my command."

Harry held his hands up, reshaped into deadly dragon's claws, scales running up his arm before slowing giving way to flesh once more. Then they moved outwards, seemingly planting themselves in mid air before his wings shook. Harry breathed in.

Though unspoken, words reverberating in the magic in the air. _Mega Flare._

Harry breathed out, and a weapon of pure power flowed. Though a beam of power that started out small, it expanded to larger than he was tall.

It was a beam of death, but not under the command of the mage that claimed to hold Death's leash. The area between Harry and Voldemort vanished under the onslaught, hitting Voldemort a fraction of a second later.

Voldemort was the one not quick enough to move, nor did he have the mindset to Apparate. He and the gem, what Harry knew was a Materia though apparently cracked, took the attack in full. When the attack ended, nothing existed where the beam had touched.

At the end edge of the beam, the gem floated in the air, no more harm done to it that it had at the beginning of the battle. No sign of Voldemort to be seen, but then his voice issued forth. "Though you drive me away once more, I will leave you a parting gift."

The Materia, and apparently Voldemort, vanished as a black wave swept outwards. It swept past Harry who clawed it apart for touching him, and could not effect Shiva.

There was a pop as someone apparated nearby, likely someone from the authorities coming to try to stop what had already been finished. They did not stand a chance as the black wave rolled over them, and Harry turned just in time to see a woman's face vanish into the inky darkness and a Dementor take her place.

It died a moment later as Shiva killed it.

"It's going to convert every magical person it touches to a Dementor, and I don't have anything to stop it, only kill the new Dementors." Shiva whispered.

A portion of the power of the Tri-Throne slept within him, and Harry could feel the connection between liege and subject that was his draw through Firewing to the Tri-Throne. That power within him though, the dragon he was, answered. "No it won't." In an unnecessary gesture, but one used all the same, Harry's clawed hand came up once more. For a moment, the sight of skin giving way to scale caught his attention before he refocused on the attack Voldemort had left behind.

From the central point where Voldemort had stood, something ignited, glowing blue and grew. It grew quicker than the black wave was and began overtaking it and destroying it. Along with everything else it touched. Harry and Shiva quickly escaped the glowing attack as it grew near them.

"Ultima."

* * *

><p>So, that's the end of the chapter. And for those of you calling shenanigans over Voldemort already being there, he's been there a few days, after finally tracking down the original portion of himself in Albania. Check out the maps, it's a hop over the water to there.<p>

And no cliffhangers. :) I was tempted to end the story when Harry went unconscious, but I didn't. See how nice I am? Read and review!


	6. To all things, an ending

AN: So, this is technically abandoned now, as I've spent what probably amounts to two years off and on poking at this. I wrote myself into a corner politically (something I never wanted to deal with), and power creep was going to get me shortly as well. So, in that vein, here's what I have left, PLUS the majority of the last battle.

* * *

><p>Many people were gathered around a single console, staring at the screen. To any number of wizards they might recognize the landmass of Italy on the screen, but the heavy colors swirling around its boot would be utterly confusing.<p>

These men were not of a magical heritage, but had all the signs of confusion and bewilderment as well. "Hey boss, come here. Mother nature just went and got drunk. Italy just got a complete atmospheric shift and a cold front just... appeared. From the looks of it, they need a deep freeze and major blizzard warning. In June."

Then the satellite imaged cloud line expanded, rendering the boot of Italy almost invisible.

-o0o- -o0o-

There was an office for the holder of the title Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, but Dumbledore found it not to his liking, as he always felt his first calling was that of being Headmaster of Hogwarts. Thus, even as he worked on duties that did not pertain to Hogwarts, he could still be found there.

The low banked fire flared for a moment, shifting as a face came through in a firecall. "Supreme Mugwump?"

Albus looked up from the report he was reading. "Come though, Jacob."

The flames flared higher and turned green as a young man stepped into the office. He was tall with darker skin, but had bright blue eyes that looked troubled. "You wanted to be immediately advised of any possible major Statute of Secrecy breaks."

Albus sighed, nodding. "Dementors on the continent?" He'd been fearing that the initial probes would eventually move beyond the easier response times of himself and the DMLE.

"No sir." Jacob shuddered for a moment. "France, Belgium, and the Netherlands have their men on watch for that, though you won't explain exactly why. But no, there's apparently someone in Italy playing with weather magics. The Italian Mugwump has let us know that they've sent in investigators but haven't heard anything back yet."

"The usual excuse to their Muggle counterparts then when they catch the wayward wizard? Freak storms?"

"It wouldn't be major if that were the case, Supreme Mugwump. They're expecting to find the wizard dead because of the size and strength of the storm would kill them of magical exhaustion. According to the Italian Mugwump, a large portion of the boot of Italy is going to get at least a foot of snow."

Albus' face went white as his stomach dropped. There was only one being he knew of that could cause a storm such as that, and if she was doing that... "Return to the ICW, I'll be there in less than an hour. Under my authority, recall Bernardo's investigators. Send no less than thirty Hitwizards to Lecce to begin containing the Muggle reaction. That should be were the worst of the storm is. They are not to attack anyone or anything unless it attacks them first, understood."

"Yes sir?" Jacob's answer was both affirmative and questioning.

"Go!"

Jacob nodded and took a handful of powder from a pocket. "ICW Central Office!"

Albus looked to the empty perch where Fawkes usually stayed, except since Nicholas had been here Fawkes had been more with the alchemist. He hadn't begrudged the phoenix that, since they were companions even more than he was. "Why didn't Isis return if Shiva is causing such a storm?"

Albus fairly well ran out of the office to find Nicholas and Perenelle.

-o0o- -o0o-

Harry's wings folded up against his back and he felt the magic holding him aloft slowly end, dropping him to his feet on the hard packed snow, now drifting at least four feet high in places.

He ignored that as he watched the Ultima magic overtake whatever Voldemort had left behind, destroying a couple of buildings, the light of the destruction overcoming the blackness. After a moment it was gone, and then so was the Ultima.

And then arms wrapped around him from behind as a body thumped against him, forcing Harry to shift and almost fall before becoming stable again as Shiva's voice rang in his ears.

"You're alive!" In her apparent elation, Shiva's voice had lost the calm and even cadence it normally held. She seemed to slide around him until she was facing him, arms still around him. And then she kissed him and Harry wasn't sure how to react to that, but it didn't matter as it was over before he could get it through his head anyways.

"Well, you're looking more like a dragon now, Harry. What happened?" Shiva asked, looking over him.

Harry looked at himself again, his mind trying to parse through everything that had just happened. Thick talons on the end of deep blue, almost black skin that appeared to actually be tiny scales. His feet were actually changed into dragon claws, and the tiny dark scales ran up his shins to merge into human skin.

His hands were similar, though he'd managed to retain a full set of fingers with black clawtips a quarter inch long. That... might make it harder to wield his wand. Patches of scales showed through on skin where Voldemort's Firaga had burned him as well. Though he couldn't see it, his face had been left unchanged, save for his eyes permanently shifting and a touch of scales threading around his neck and into his hair.

"When Voldemort dropped me... I saw my mother, protecting me from the attack. She had Ifrit's bloodline, that where the fire protection came from. She said I denied it though, so I couldn't use it. So I used the power of Bahamut." Harry looked at his clawed hands again. "I realized. It's not just the throne of Bahamut I claimed. It's my throne. I don't need to keep it separate. So I quit thinking of it that way."

"Whatever keeps you balanced, Harry." Shiva replied, before looking around. "I think I went a little over the top, however."

A crack and a partially destroyed ceiling fell, the snow still falling having finally overloaded the weakened structure.

Several more cracks were heard and people starting appearing, the noise dropping more snow from overhangs. Wizards and witches with wands out, looked at the devastation before sighting in on Harry and Shiva.

Shiva moved but Harry snagged her top with a hand, trying not to rip it with the tip of his new claws. "You guys speak the Queen's English?"

None of them spoke for a long moment before one nodded and spoke in a heavy German accent. "We're with the ICW." It was obvious that they were all on edge. "You cause this or the two of ya get caught in the backlash?"

Harry sighed. "Voldemort started it."

"Perhaps you come with us? We need to get control of the area." The man spoke again and Harry shrugged.

He was willing to play along. He doubted his Portkey would be available anytime soon now, and maybe they could help.

* * *

><p>They'd ended up sitting in front of several mediwizards who were trying to figure out what was wrong with Harry and Shiva that they needed to fix, while several of the other ICW wizards were watching over them.<p>

"I am naturally this way. I will freeze the wand of the next person to try to warm me up." Shiva scowled at them, though Harry shook his head.

"So you claim you fought this Dark Wizard Voldemort? And he caused the massive snow storm?" One man was asking, a quill taking dictation. "If he was powerful enough to conjure up something like that, why waste the energy?"

"No." Harry shook his head. "He didn't cause the snowstorm."

"I did. I was building up power to completely destroy him." Shiva answered. "He was very resistant to my normal level of attacks."

Everyone had a somewhat dumbfounded look. "You're actually admitting to causing that? Lady, do you know how much trouble you're in for breaking the Statute of Secrecy?"

"As I am not bound by your accords, I would hazard to guess none."

"The Statute is enforced by the ICW. It's international. I don't care where you're from, all witches and wizards are under our jurisdiction. Now, since you've admitted guilt and you're refusing medical treatment I think I can find you a nice cell to sit in until we can get you in court." The man pulled his wand, pointing it at Shiva.

A growl startled the man as Harry stood, wings flaring out a bit. "You're not taking Shiva anywhere."

The wand swung towards Harry. "Look kid, just let the nice mediwizards fix you and let us deal with her. She admitted to breaking the law. Ah screw it. Stupif-AIEEE!"

The man's spell ended before it could begin, as every wand in the room was suddenly encased in a block of ice, Shiva scowling openly now.

"So, do you think you can drop us back of in Lecce, or maybe even our actual destination? Shiva's not a witch. And we're not going to hurt you." Harry's smile had dropped, and his claws ticked together.

"Ah, ah, ah." The man stumbled backwards, trying to ward the two of them off with his ice covered hand. He then ran out of the room.

"I am not bound to your accords. I am not bound to your laws. I was protecting Harry. Or in this case, getting my revenge for what I thought was his death. Now leave until you bring someone to take us where we wish to go." Shiva paused. "Or we can just leave on our own."

The remaining few wizards in the room backed away slowly, watching Shiva carefully.

"Look, isn't the Hogwarts Headmaster part of you guys? Let me talk to him." Harry sighed. "He's probably looking for us now anyways, since Iris isn't with us."

"You cause what's likely to be the biggest break in the Statue of Secrecy since its inception, attack a Hitwizard, and now you're demanding to see the Supreme Mugwump? Who the hell do you think you are, Merlin?" One of the few remaining wizards said.

By this point, it was just the few wizards who'd been asking questions left in the room, as the mediwizards had left as well.

"Harry Potter, actually." Harry said, before ignoring the men to look at Shiva. "Hey, weren't you able to talk to Phoenix before? Think we could pass a message to Fawkes or Iris that way?"

"Harry Potter? Aww, hell." The wizard quietly cursed to himself, ignored along with the others.

Shiva closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them. "Not with my current limitations, no."

"Well, there goes that idea."

"Thought I recognized that Dark Wizard's name." Another one of the hitwizards commented. "Hey, Potter. I thought he died when you were a kid?"

Harry looked back at the men. "Yeah, it's a really long story. The headmaster knows it too. You could always go get it from him and let him know I'm here."

"At this point, I'm going to have to at least bump this up to my superiors." The first man said. "Will you two please not cause any trouble for a while? Even if you do eventually get to talk with the Supreme Mugwump, it's not going to be soon. They're trying to figure out what to do to cover this up."

"Sure. It'll all work out." Harry grinned.

* * *

><p>"In other news, there have been some changes in the weather around Italy after the sudden blizzard a few days ago. Mother Nature seems to be correcting herself and meteorologists are claiming temperatures should be back near averages within the week. As for the cause of it..." Here, the dark haired woman in front of the camera paused.<p>

"Multiple sources, both anonymous and public, have come forward on this. From what sources and contacts are saying this was the result of an explosive overload of an experimental bio-dome research device built to alter weather in controlled conditions." The woman continued, reading slowly from her teleprompter. "Apparently it was stolen a few weeks ago. A new eco-terrorist group calling itself Avalanche has stepped forward claiming responsibility for causing the blizzard. While we have not heard any demands or reasons behind this, the UN and other governments are apparently taking this very seriously."

"However, they have not released any comments to the press over any actions they are taking in turn. For now, we will just have to hope this group cannot duplicate the stolen device before they are caught. I'm Judy Reeve, and we'll return after this break."

"And we're off!"

Judy stood, adjusting her business suit as she did, scowling the whole time.

"You know, I'm never playing poker with you." The man standing at weather laughed. "Your poker face is too damned good. What's up?"

"This story, Tony. This eco-terrorist thing and the blizzard. It's a bunch of bull." She threw her hands up.

"You've got political and military sources, some of which are actually not asking to be anonymous for once, all agreeing on this."

"And that's the problem." Judy growled. "They're all agreeing. Any of our sources that are talking this Avalanche group aren't using it to snipe their political enemies. So they've got to be covering something up!"

Tony shook his head. "So they invented a terrorist group to cover something up. Something big, if no one's breaking the cover story. What then, aliens?"

"No clue. I wish I did know."

"We're back on in twenty!"

Harry sat at a little desk paging through a small book on the Himalayas. Both desk and book had been brought into the hospital room the day before, when the hitwizards had finally given up on moving him somewhere else, and the mediwizards were still trying to fix him.

Honestly, Harry didn't think he needed to be fixed and that was probably a large portion of what was causing them to fail to even begin shifting him back into a fully human form.

A clawed finger delicately flipped the page and Harry grinned to himself, the results of hours of practice finally enough to not rip the page.

Looking up once more, Harry watched Shiva for several long moments as her gaze held steady on the door into the room. "You bored?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

Shiva turned to face Harry, a half exasperated expression on her face. Harry still thought it was neat she was being more expressive than she was when he first found her Materia. "You chose the worst time to actually take your Headmaster's advice."

* * *

><p>AN: It's at this point I more or less lost direction.<p>

But to not completely disillusion my readers, here is the outline of the final battle of Hogwarts.

* * *

><p>The grounds outside Hogwarts looked like a icy wasteland. Here and there, death eater corpses lay frozen, victims of Shiva's regained might. Whatever empowerment Voldemort had given them by partially converting his minions to Dementors had not protected them nearly well enough.<p>

But the surprise attack had done its damage. The cloud of damning magics had stolen the lives of almost all the students of the castle, with only the recent wardings done by the Flamels and Albus keeping their souls from being converted to the foul creatures as well.

Voldemort stood on the far side of the frozen lake, a macabre grin upon his now nearly skeletal face as he calmly watched the two standing on the lake itself.

For Shiva, the ice was home and would not let her stumble. For Harry, his claws easily pierced the layers of ice to grant him his own stability. "I'm not letting you escape, this time." Harry hissed, instincts of both human and dragon portions of his soul igniting in rage. "You attack my home, the seat of my power. Do not think you will not DIE!" The air around Voldemort flickered and melted as Harry's magic created a Flare.

Only for Voldemort to laugh through the attack. "Child, you have no idea of the powers we possess. You may be Dragon, I am Death itself, and all the pieces of my mortal soul I have finally bound them to my new existence. I am, quite literally, immune to anything you can use against me."

The power that the Throne of Bahamut represented pulsed in time to Harry's pull upon it. The young King of Dragon's form flickered for a moment before fading away completely. And then with a roar that ascended beyond audible and shook magic itself, a fully formed dragon took the place of Harry Potter. Built lean and whip-like, it still packed more muscle than any other creature seen before that day. Standing on its hind legs, it likely could have put its paw on the top of the Astronomy tower.

Shiva took a long look at the dragon and nodded. "I will protect your home while you deal with the interloper." She then vanished into crystals of ice, before solid walls of ice rose around the Hogwarts castle.

A single paw whipped forward, the air screaming as it was torn before slamming into the Dark Lord, launching him backwards and through several nearby trees.

"Hmm, this may be more annoying than I expected." Voldemort mused, struggling to pull himself from the trough he'd created. "I didn't realize we could do that. The benefits of having one of these creatures to take the knowledge from, instead of needing to discover it all yourself."

With a dragon rampaging right towards him, Voldemort concentrated not on moving, but on focusing inwards, to the gem he'd anchored his soul fragments into.

A breath of pure plasma washed over him, igniting and electrifying everything. Looking up, the mage let himself feel fear for a moment as he stared down the gullet of the King of Dragons. Immortality and indestructibility inside the gut of a dragon did not sound all that pleasant. And then something triggered inside the gem, causing Voldemort to flicker and vanish with a mad laugh.

What appeared next looked similar to a Dementor, but stood nearly as tall as the Dragon form of Harry. Any form of flesh was now stripped from his body, and instead cold light burned in the eye sockets and all visible joints.

"Before I destroy you, I will thank you for teaching me this most useful form, Potter. Go to your death knowing you only helped me."

With that, the two behemoths joined in combat.

~o0o~

The imp form of Snape laid dead behind them, the few people standing before a black obelisk. "Your soul provides the invulnerability Voldemort is relying on in his fight against Harry. Death cannot be killed, after all, because it is not truly alive." Perenelle flipped her hair back. "Your body is neither dead nor alive, because the soul that belongs to it is neither, seeing as how you were thrown out of your body but you did not die."

"So you brought the two of us here to destroy my son's soul? I expected to be thrown aside once the Dark Lord was destroyed, but we had a deal to save my son's life." Lucius growled, his wand now pointed at the woman.

The spirit of Draco floated further away from both the conflict and the obelisk uneasily.

"No. If I'd wanted to do that, I could have had Iris destroy his soul back at Hogwarts. And it wouldn't have required Harry manipulating Riddle into casting off what remained of your son's body to fight him. Destroying your son's soul would have saved your heir. Granted, it would have been a living puppet but your line could continue. This way, your son claims the Aspect of Hades and the throne removes the invulnerability from both of them, for there cannot be two Hades."

Perenelle flicked the beak of Iris, the blue phoenix smacking her back with her own wing. "There is no way to save the entire person, so Phoenix decided to allow you to chose which portion to keep. I will never fully understand the Esper's mind, even after all this time."

Lucius lowered his wand slowly. "I hate you." Perenelle nodded. "And I will likely never forgive you for putting my son through this."

"I'd rather this than be destroyed and only have a body to be remembered by." Draco added.

Perenelle motioned the ghost back towards the Obelisk. "You know the words."

Draco nodded, gulping even in his spectral state.

_I am Draco Malfoy_

_Soul of no body_

_Spirit of no earth._

_No body exists to claim me_

_No earth claims my body._

_Thus I enter the Aspect of Death_

_Having never died, for I never lived._

_I claim the Throne of Hades, as the Aspect of Death_

An utter blackness pulsed from the Obelisk, only to be absorbed by the spirit.

* * *

><p>With invulnerability removed, Harry quickly tears apart Voldemort. Dumbledore ends up summoning Phoenix to restore all the dead students of Hogwarts, spending too much mortal magic and energy. The last scene of him is a newly hatched baby phoenix of white and grey, with little yellow spots, sitting next to his body.<p> 


End file.
